iPhone Friday

Discover the magic of iPhone Friday in the Woods through a photo that tells a story of golden autumn vibes and nature’s beauty.

Another Friday and, hopefully, a great weekend to look forward to! Browsing through my iPhone photo library, I actually found several cool shots after I last posted in this series, so there are more stashed away for upcoming episodes!

As I scrolled through the memories captured in those images, I realized how each photo tells its own story, evoking the feelings and emotions of that specific moment in time.

This one from last October is particularly special. I remember standing there, feeling the gentle breeze brush against my skin as I looked up and admired the interplay of colors and sunlight filtering through the leaves. The golden hues of autumn wrapped everything in a warm embrace, creating a scene so picturesque that it felt like stepping into a painting. Every detail—from the way the light danced upon the branches to the crispness of the air—added to the beauty of that moment, reminding me why I love this season so much.

I’m eager to share more of these cherished snapshots in the future, each one revealing a little piece of my journey and the world around me. So stay tuned for more visual stories to brighten your days!

The trees are alight!

There’s just nothing like the fresh autumn air, a mild breeze, and the sun bringing out all the color that surrounds us! The vibrant hues of red, orange, and yellow paint the landscape, creating a breathtaking canvas that captures the essence of the season. Each breath fills the lungs with a crispness that invigorates the spirit, while the rustling leaves provide a soothing soundtrack to our surroundings. Families gather for weekend outings, enjoying the simple pleasure of pumpkin picking and nature walks, embracing the warmth of each other’s company. For my money, it doesn’t get any better until the next great day! The anticipation of falling temperatures and cozy evenings spent by the fire adds an extra layer of magic to this time of year.

A Quiet Return…

We explore the stunning autumn beauty of New England and admire the magnificent colors in this photography moment.

It’s been a while since my most recent post, and I figure it’s time to start finding my way back again. There is much to share, so I’ll start gently. As I’ve overcommitted myself to too many hobbies, pastimes, and a bit much on the work side (of life), I’ll be taking baby steps.

During this time, there have been occasional photography forays, so I will start with sharing from those outings. Here’s a bit of “on the ground in front of me”-scape from this past autumn:

Autumn’s Fallen Beauty

Autumn is definitely my favorite time of year, as New England is awash in color, and the vistas can be magnificent. Of course, those colors do come to an end, as leaves drop from their hosts to decorate the ground around us (of course, we do have to clear them, if we want to have a lawn). During a late October stroll around New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, I came across this lovely arrangement of future nutrients for the maple tree around which they lay. Finding an angle to get a composition that I liked was not that hard.

Captured with my Fuji X-H2 with an XF80mm F2.8 macro lens at an aperture of F6.4.

Sunday Serenity

On this rainy Sunday morning, a past autumn reflection from East Haddam; this image captures the early autumn colors in the trees, enhanced by their reflection in a stream.

As the rain is coming down steadily on this Sunday morning, I thought that a quiet autumn reflection from a couple of years ago might be in order.

Here’s that thought…

Reflection on Autumn

This image came about from a bit of noodling and looking for something different, as we were photographing in East Haddam. With some early autumnal color showing in the trees, the reflection in the stream created a bit more depth of those colors.

Enjoy your moment of serenity!

Thursday Throwback – 27

We’re going back to 2004, and a capture of Canada geese on the Quinapoxet River. It’s an image that I still cherish, even after 2 decades!

As I’m having fun putting my web-site together, I’m building portfolio pages that feature particular groupings of some of the images that I have captured over the years. Even though these are just my digital photography, some of them go back quite a while! So for this week’s throwback, I’m going to an image from 2004.

Here are three Canada geese afloating…

Geese on the Quinapoxet

After all this time, I still appreciate this image for a whole bunch of reasons. It took a bit of work to get this capture, as I shot 34 or so images to get one where the geese give off a sense of direction. I still enjoy the coloring of the late September leaves and their reflection in the rather tranquil river. And, yes, despite being an early digital camera, the Canon EOS 10D, which I still have, performed admirably!

I hope you enjoy this image and look forward to hearing about your early forays into digital photography!

A Monday Moment

Amidst a busy schedule, there was time to visit the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. I was drawn to intricate patterns in plants again during this visit.

Some days it seems that between work and all our commitments we barely have time to think and take a deep breath of inspiration! Luckily, I squeezed in a bit of time this weekend to visit the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, Massachusetts. This is one place were I usually can relax, although it was a tad busy this Sunday.

Here’s one of the observations from this outing…

Patterns of our Imagination

Over the past couple of visits I have been drawn to a number of plants that showed me some intricate patterns. Last time, it was a lush crop of oregano and this time, I’m not sure what it is… (I should read the labels!). The abundance of the growth definitely intrigues me, as the plants are sprawling all over one another.

What did you capture this past weekend?

Sunday Serenity

While exploring the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill with an eye toward IR photography, a family scene caught my eye.

I spent some quality time this morning sauntering across the wonderful landscape provided by the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. My goal was to do some more exploration with my 720nm IR converted camera, and looking through the images, I already found one that stood out to me.

Here’s the one that caught my eye…

Family Moment

As I was walking along the paths, I noticed this cute little scene of a family enjoying Nature on a relaxing Sunday morning. As I really wanted to experiment more with the camera, I took this as one of my shots; my intent was simply to see how it would translate. I think it did!

As I was going through the various processing options, I decided to push this more into a yellow-toned foliage direction while keeping the blue in the sky. It does lend a certain nostalgic photography feel to the image.

A Saturday Abstraction

Explore the concept of abstraction in photography and how it transforms our perception of natural beauty in its capture of mood.

In photography, we all tend to lean toward the representation of something we see in the world around us. In some way, many of us may be impatient painters of the scene or landscape that we enjoy seeing. Even though I enjoy taking a slightly different look at my environment, the same holds true for the vast majority of my work. That said, there are lots of moments when I see something not quit so representational.

Here’s one such moment…

Oxbow Impression of Autumn

This image from the autumn season of 2017 is certainly representational in one aspect. After all, it is a reflection of the mix of colors in the foliage in the rippled water of the Nashua river. At the same time, it gives a sense of impressionism in that it invites us to not look for the sharp detail, but rather the mood that we encounter in the colors and textures. Not quite as abstract as I’ve gone in some of my photography, but maybe a little bit and enough for this Saturday?

Sunday Serenity

A short exploration of\ Gillette Castle State Park in Connecticut, highlighting its scenic beauty and benches that offer respite for weary wanderers.

A late post for this Sunday, so I thought it might be nice to bring back a moment of peaceful contemplation. Yesterday, I ran an errand to pick up our knee scooter, as another friend could use it. As a side benefit, I enjoyed a nice lunch and some quality photography time.

This was one of the moments…

Resting Spot

We traversed the paths of Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, CT. This is a wonderful area to explore adjacent to the mighty Connecticut river. Along the paths there are some lovely benches, as they might be steep and wanderers, such as myself, can benefit from a moment of recuperation!

Thursday Throwback – 19

In 2010, I participated in a memorable walk with Denahee, which included a special moment of connection.

This week I am taking us back to 2010, when I had the marvelous opportunity to walk with a wolf. Yes, you are reading this correctly! At that time, I was part of a very active photography group in Worcester, MA, where there were always great opportunities for collaboration and shared exploration. One of the outings that we had was to a wolf conservancy organization named Wolf Talk.

Here’s a photo from that experience…

Denahee

Meet Denahee, one of the wolves at Wolf Talk. With our guide, we went for a walk through the woods with Denahee, which was an amazing experience. Denahee clearly knew those woods really well and would roam with us, staying in contact with the group.

At one point, as we were listening to the guide, Denahee walked up next to me and leaned into my knee to connect with me. That was a special moment. Our guide looked and explained that Denahee had accepted me as part of her pack.

Yes, wolves are wild animals, and they are misunderstood. They are a critical part of the ecosystem and need to be cherished as such. They also are our friends!

Wednesday Window – pt 18

The recent snowfall inspired reflections on nature’s resilience, highlighting a past photograph of a mill in Northbridge, Massachusetts, overtaken by vegetation.

My inspiration for this week is the snowfall that we had over the past weekend. Even though it was just a couple of inches, it made for a tricky driveway clean up, as it was wet and heavy snow. In my search for some more snow-inspired images, I went back to a number of New England mills that I photographed over the years.

In 2009, I came across this during a February day…

Frosted Mills

This detail from one the buildings in Northbridge, Massachusetts, just caught my eye with its takeover by Nature in multiple ways. Vegetation knows how to take over any area that is not tended by us, humans. It leads the unstoppable advance that will take place no matter what.

Let’s embrace Nature and nurture her, as she inevitably embraces us.

This is my mid-week contribution to the Monday Window thread, a creation of Ludwig Keck. To read more about Ludwig, check this page.